Manhong Huang

Characteristics and aluminum reuse of textile sludge incineration residues after acidification.

The chemical composition and aluminum speciation of sludge incineration residue (SIR) were determined. Cementation of aluminum from sulfuric acid solution using SIR was studied. The results showed that acid-soluble inorganic aluminum was the predominant component in the sludge, and the total leached aluminum increased from 62.2% to 92.9% after incineration. Sulfuric acid dosage and reaction time were found to affect aluminum recovery positively. Conversely, the increase in temperature significantly inhibited recovery reactions. The optimized leaching condition was 1.66 g sulfuric acid per gram of SIR with a reaction time of 3 hr at 20 degrees C, resulting in the highest aluminum leaching rate of 96.7%. Compared to commercial aluminum sulfate solution coagulants, the leaching solution demonstrated higher COD(Cr), turbidity and color removal efficiency for textile wastewater.

Removal of sulfamethazine antibiotics by aerobic sludge and an isolated Achromobacter sp. S-3

Removal characteristics of sulfamethazine (SMZ) by sludge and a bacterial strain using an aerobic sequence batch reactor (ASBR) were studied. Operating conditions were optimized by varying the reaction time and sludge retention time (SRT). An Achromobacter sp. (S-3) with the ability to remove SMZ was isolated from the ASBR. The effects of different operating parameters (pH and temperature) on the biodegradation of SMZ by S-3 were determined. The results indicate that, between 0.5 and 4 hr, reaction time of the ASBR had a significant effect on the SMZ removal efficiency in the system. The SMZ removal efficiency also increased from 45% to 80% when SRT was prolonged from 5 to 25 days, although longer SRT had no impact on SMZ removal. The SMZ adsorption rate decreased with increasing temperature, which fitted Freundlich isotherm well. The removal of SMZ in the ASBR was due to the combined effects of adsorption and degradation, and degradation played a leading role.

Changes of bacterial diversity and tetracycline resistance in sludge from AAO systems upon exposure to tetracycline pressure.

Two lab-scale anaerobic-anoxic-oxic (AAO) systems were used to investigate the changes in tetracycline (TC) resistance and bacterial diversity upon exposure to TC pressure. High-throughput sequencing was used to detect diversity changes in microorganisms at the level of class in sludge from different bioreactors with and without TC. Real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was used to detect the abundances of eight tetracycline resistance genes (TRGs), tetA, tetB, tetC, tetE, tetM, tetO, tetS and tetX. The results showed that the diversities of the microbial communities of anoxic, anaerobic and aerobic sludge all increased with the addition of TC. TC substantially changed the structure of the microbial community regardless of oxygen conditions. Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria were the dominant species in the three kinds of sludge and were substantially enriched with TC pressure. In sludge with TC added, almost all target TRGs proliferated more than those in sludge without TC except tetX, which decreased in anaerobic sludge with TC addition. The concentration of efflux pump genes, tet(A-C, E), was the highest among the three groups of TRGs in the different kinds of sludge.

Optimization of an A2/O process for tetracycline removal via response surface methodology coupled with a Box–Behnken design

Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize the operating conditions of an anaerobic-anoxic-oxic (A2/O) process by maximizing the removal efficiency of tetracycline (TC). Solid retention time (SRT), hydraulic retention time (HRT) and initial TC concentration (CTC, in) were selected as independent variables for incorporation in the Box–Behnken design. The results showed SRT and CTC, in were more significant parameters than HRT for the removal efficiency of TC. TC could be completely removed under the optimal conditions of an SRT of 15.5 days, an HRT of 9.9 h and a CTC, in of 283.3 μg L−1. TC removal efficiencies of 99% and 96% were attained for synthetic and real wastewater, respectively, under the optimal conditions. This indicated the constructed model was validated and reliable for optimizing the A2/O process for TC removal.

Removal performance and changes in the microbial communities of SBRs under aerobic and anoxic conditions with trace tetracycline pressure

The reactor performance and microbial community composition of sequencing batch reactor (SBR) under aerobic and anoxic conditions were investigated in this study. The experimental results showed high chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency. The tetracycline (TC) removal efficiencies were not obviously affected by aerobic and anoxic conditions, and were 64–97 and 60–87%, respectively. Aerobic condition was observed to be more suitable for decreasing tetracycline‐resistant bacteria (TRB) than anoxic condition in synthetic and real wastewater. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and clone library analysis revealed that Chlorobaculumthiosulfatiphilum was the dominant species in the tested SBR systems. TC significantly influenced the relative numbers of TRB‐ and TC‐resistant genes, and the microbial community diversity changed with the addition of 250 μg L−1 of TC. The genes of tetA and tetC, tetM and tetS, tetA and tetM, tetS and tetA showed significant correlation with each other (P < 0.05).

Immobilization of BiOBr/BiOI Hierarchical Microspheres on Fly Ash Cenospheres as Visible Light Photocatalysts

Three-dimensional (3D) BiOBr/BiOI hierarchical microspheres were successfully fabricated on the surface of fly ash cenospheres (FACs) via a facile one-pot solvothermal method for the first time. The as-prepared samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, UV–visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The results indicated that the loaded hierarchical microspheres exhibited a uniform distribution, and some aggregation was observed. These well-dispersed hierarchical microspheres were composed of 2D nanosheets, which possess heterojunction structures. Based on the photodegradation tests examining the removal of rhodamine B from water under visible light irradiation (λ > 420 nm), the photocatalytic activity of BiOB/BiOI/FACs was superior to that of BiOBr/FACs and BiOI/FACs. A proposed mechanism for the enhanced photocatalytic activity displayed by BiOB/BiOI/FACs is discussed.

Effect of salinity and temperature on treatment of concentrated wastewater from RO by FO-MD

In this study the appropriate temperature of the membrane distillation (MD) hot side (the permeation flux of MD was controlled by adjusting the hot side temperature) was selected according to the water flux of FO process so that the water transfer rate on both sides of FO and MD was consistent and the FO-MD process could be stable operation. When the salt concentration of feed solution was 30, 55, 80 and 100 g/L, the desalination rates changed little, which were 99.1%, 98.4%, 98.9% and 98.7%, respectively. The removal rate of COD was 93.8%, 94.2%, 91.6% and 92.7% which also changed little like the desalination rates. The removal rate of chromaticity increased with the increase of salinity, which attained 96.6%, 97.0%, 97.2% and 97.9%, respectively. This study proved that salinity of the feed solution affected little on the removal rate of contaminants but great on the water flux, with the increase of salinity from 30 to 100 g/L, the water flux was 6.05, 4.81, 4.33 and 3.87 LMH with the appropriate temperature (67.5±0.5, 64.5±0.5, 62.5±0.5 and 60.5±0.5 °C) of MD hot side. In a word, FO-MD was first used to treat the high salinity RO water with over 30 g/L total dissolved solids (TDS), FO-MD was a promising new process for high salinity wastewater treatment, and the hybrid system can solve the problem of lower draw solution concentration, and the high-quality production water will be obtained directly by this hybrid system with low membrane fouling tendency.